1929 by M.L. Gardner Page A

Caleb Jenkins.” Roman nodded at each of them before he turned
to his desk.
    “Got some paperwork for you boys to fill out.
Just basic employment stuff. Should only take a few minutes. I
didn’t have near as much trouble getting the big boss to approve
the third guy. You know the positions I was trying to fill when you
came to see me, Aryl? Well, I found out later that two of our guys
took a flying leap off a tall building. Put every hard earned cent
into those stocks and lost everything they ever worked for.” He
paused, shaking his head. “Nice guys, too. Anyway, a third guy
busted up his arm pretty bad yesterday, so it all worked out I
guess,” he said, handing out the small packets of papers. “Get that
filled out and I’ll show you around. Then I’ll get you boys to
work.”
     
    Ten minutes later, Roman was leading the trio
out the back of the office building into the bustling shipping
yard. “The large cranes lift crates and pallets off the ship deck
and lower them to the platform here. These forklifts carry each
load to different areas. These little inventions sure have made
life easier. Anyway, once inventoried, it’s hand-loaded onto the
trucks for delivery. That’s what you boys will be doing.” Jonathan
was visibly irritated at Roman’s repeated use of the term boys and
resented being spoken to as if he had no idea how a shipping yard
operated.
    A tall, thin man with a very weathered face
appeared next to Roman.
    “These the new hires?”
    “Yeah. Harvey, this is Caleb and Jon,” Roman
said, pointing to each. “And you remember Aryl. This is your
supervisor, boys. You’ll report to him and he’ll show you what to
do. I’ve got a meeting, so I’ll let you take over, Harvey. See you
around, boys.”
    Harvey turned to face Aryl. “Good to see you
again.”
    “You, too, Harvey. How’s the family?”
    “Good. Guess we better get you boys started
on the day. Don’t know if Roman told you, hours are eight to six,
Monday through Saturday. You get an hour for lunch. You bring
gloves?” Only Caleb pulled a pair out of his back pocket.
    “Well, you’ll live one day without them,” he
said to Aryl and Jonathan. “But I’d get some soon. This job’ll tear
up a pair of hands quick, and,” he laughed lightly as he gestured
to Jonathan, “those fancy slacks won’t make it through the day.”
Jonathan’s face burned red with embarrassment and frustration.
“Loading area's down here. Follow me.”
    He ordered Jonathan and Aryl to start
unloading a pallet of hundred-pound sacks of flour onto a delivery
truck and took Caleb down to a different area to work on a pallet
of sacks of potatoes. There was no shortage of work. As soon as one
pallet was cleared, the forklift would position another near a
waiting truck. Jonathan’s back was aching before the first hour was
up, and Aryl’s hands had started to blister.
     
    ∞∞∞
     
    Ava paced the living room, having finished
the breakfast dishes, made the bed, wiped down the bathroom, and
cleaned out the fireplace from last night’s fire. She had swept the
floors twice and cleaned the windows around the masking tape. She
buttoned her sweater and put on her hat, having decided to go up
and see Claire. She paused at the door, listening for the
beady-eyed woman, whom she knew wouldn’t stop talking once given
the opportunity to start. She slipped out the door and up the
stairs to the next floor.
    Claire opened the door and hugged Ava before
moving aside to let her in.
    “I was just about to come down and see you,”
she said, as Ava walked into the living room.
    “I couldn’t bear to just sit there any
longer,” Ava said, rolling her eyes. “I thought we could go out and
get some shopping done together. There's a few things I need. We’ll
get Arianna, too.” Ava walked over to the fireplace to look closer
at the wall where Claire had started outlining. There were pencil
sketch beginnings of a beach and waves on one side, an outline